The Scalable Autonomous Robots (ScalAR) Lab is an interdisciplinary lab focused on fundamental research problems in robotics that lie at the intersection of robotics, nonlinear dynamical systems theory, and uncertainty. Robots are powerful interfaces to the dynamical systems around us. We strive to build autonomous systems that can mediate the mismatches in temporal and spatial scales between our thoughts and actions, and those processes we interact with. We focus on distributed unmanned systems, and address the scientific and technological challenges in long-term operation in dynamic and uncertain environments. Our group’s primary focus areas include but are not limited to: adaptive sampling, coordination of heterogeneous robot swarms, harnessing environmental dynamics for planning and control, tracking and estimation of invariant features in nonlinear dynamical systems, understanding the emergence of global patterns from local interactions, and design of novel robotic platforms. Applications include environmental monitoring, mapping and exploration, oceanography, and search and rescue.
The ScalAR Lab is part of the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Laboratory. Laboratory members consist of a diverse set of students and post-docs with backgrounds in engineering, computer science, physics, math, and oceanography. We are committed to fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration between students, staff, and faculty focused on fundamental research and education in robotics and related fields. We commit to GRASP’s diversity philosophy and continuously strive for an inclusive culture where our diversity is embraced and encouraged.